Expansion of KPC-producing Enterobacterales in four large hospitals in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Objectives: The incidence of carbapenem resistance among nosocomial Gram-negative bacteria in Vietnam is high and increasing, including among Enterobacterales. In this study, we assessed the presence of one of the main carbapenemase genes, bla, among carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) from four large hospitals in Hanoi, Vietnam, between 2010 and 2015, and described their key molecular characteristics.

Methods: KPC-producing Enterobacterales were detected using conventional PCR and were further analysed using S1 nuclease pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (S1-PFGE), Southern blotting and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) for sequence typing and genetic characterisation.